Breathing method can reduce asthma burden

Certain breathing techniques can reduce both the frequency and the severity of asthma attacks, according to a new study.

The researchers of the study say that it shows promise for reducing both the expense and suffering associated with chronic asthma.

Professors in Dallas, Texas, are now expanding on the study by developing a four-week programme to teach people with asthma how to better control their condition by changing the way they breathe.

During an asthma attack, sufferers tend to hyperventilate, breathing fast and deep against constricted airways to fight an overwhelming feeling of oxygen deprivation.

According to the researchers, this makes the problem worse by lowering the body's carbon dioxide levels, which restricts blood flow to the brain and can further irritate already hypersensitive bronchial passages.

Patients who ‘over-breathe’ on a sustained basis risk chronic CO2 deficiencies that make them even more vulnerable to future attacks, the researchers said. Rescue medications that relieve asthma symptoms do nothing to correct breathing difficulties associated with hyperventilation, they added.

The four-week programme uses a method called capnometry-assisted respiratory training (CART) to teach asthma patients to normalise and reverse chronic over-breathing, according to the researchers.

A hand-held device called a capnometer measures the amount of CO2 exhaled. Using this device, patients learn how to breathe more slowly, shallowly and regularly.

CART techniques could have a positive impact on quality of asthma treatment as well as reducing the need for acute care, the researchers said.

"The research shows that this kind of respiratory therapy can limit both the severity and frequency of asthma attacks," said Prof Thomas Ritz at Southern Methodist University, one of the professors developing the four-week programme.

"That means fewer doctor visits and less frequent use of rescue medications, with the associated savings of both time and money,” he added.

[Posted: Mon 21/09/2009]